Think You Can't Research Your African American Family History? Think Again

The Ancestry team recently returned from the Tom Joyner Family Reunion in Orlando, Florida, where they had a fantastic time watching people's excitement as they saw family names they recognized -- or maybe had never seen -- appear on U.S. census and other records. Some African Americans may think that researching their family tree is impossible beyond 1870, when all of our ancestors were free and therefore listed by first and last name in the federal census. If you descend from a black ancestor ...